command-line option for virgin session?

command-line option for virgin session?

[Drew Adams]

We have command-line options such as -Q, that start up Emacs without loading
initialization files of one form or another. We have a command-line option,
--no-desktop, to not load any saved desktop file.

Should we have a command-line option that prevents Emacs from recognizing all
such saved-state files (those written and read by vanilla Emacs)? Bookmarks,
history, recent files, stuff in .emacs.d, filesets cache...

I tend to use -Q for testing and for sending bug reports. Anything beyond what
any other user would start with is really just extra baggage, and could
potentially get in the way.

OK, we could add a --no-bookmarks option, and so on, but why not just let -Q do
this in general? That is, have -Q provide a virgin Emacs session that recognizes
no previous-session state. (Or if -Q needs to be kept as it is for some reason,
then how about adding another, more general option to do this?)

Beyond making Emacs ignore past sessions, we might even consider adding another
(different) command-line option that would ignore env var values
(`user-login-name' etc.).

(No, I don't have a specific need in mind for these things; this is all just
hypothetical.)

(I'm a bit surprised that -Q doesn't include --no-desktop, unless it's because
the Desktop is not restored anyway with -Q. But if that's the case, then the doc
should say that -Q includes --no-desktop, just as it says that it includes
--no-site-file.)

Re: command-line option for virgin session?

[Stefan Monnier]

> OK, we could add a --no-bookmarks option, and so on, but why not just
> let -Q do this in general?

No reason, AFAIK.  Patches welcome.


        Stefan

RE: command-line option for virgin session?

[Drew Adams]

> > OK, we could add a --no-bookmarks option, and so on, but 
> > why not just let -Q do this in general?
> 
> No reason, AFAIK.  Patches welcome.

Good to hear. I hope someone will submit such a patch.

Re: command-line option for virgin session?

[Davis Herring]

> (I'm a bit surprised that -Q doesn't include --no-desktop, unless it's
> because the Desktop is not restored anyway with -Q. But if that's the case,
> then the doc should say that -Q includes --no-desktop, just as it says that
> it includes --no-site-file.)

What's going to load desktop.el (and thus .emacs.desktop) if your init
file doesn't get to?

Of course, one can say that -Q still includes the -effect- of --no-desktop
from the user's point of view.  But it suppresses so much else (like the
automatic features of every other optional package, whether distributed
with Emacs or no, and every optional feature of every auto/preloaded
package) that I'm not sure of the utility of mentioning it all.

Davis

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